Rama Krishna Sangem
Telangana State Planning Board vice-chairman and former MP B Vinod Kumar appealed to President of India Ram Nath Kovind to condone the hundreds of army candidates who protested against Agnipath. “As most of the youth are from poorer sections and are only eager to get a job in the armed force, they should be set free and the cases against them be withdrawn,” said Vinod.
Vinod spoke to media at Narsampet in Mahabubabad on June 25, after calling on the family members of Rakesh who died of bullet injuries in the police firing at Sedunderabad railway station. “I am urging the President of India as he is the Supreme Commander of Defence forces as per our Constitution’s Article 53 (2),” said Vinod Kumar. If the president can take this decision, the future of thousands of youth would be saved.
The senior TRS leader attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking this hasty decision of launching Agnipath without consulting all stakeholders in this issue. “Modi’s early decisions like demonetization and GST too were rushed through hurriedly, thus causing immense misery to large number of people. This Agnipath too should be rolled back as it hurts the interests of thousands of youth aspiring to join the army,” said Vinod.
Vinod felt that Agnipath would definitely harm the interest of India which has serious border problems with its neighbors. There were concerns that the quality of armed forces might come down with Agniath. He questioned the logic of comparing India with the US on the armed forces front as the latter doesn’t have any big border problems. Just to cut the pension bill, India cannot afford to compromise on its armed forces.
Recalling that the country present has around 14 lakh armed forces and another 32 lakh pensioners in the forces, Vinod suggested that the Centre should increase its defence budget up to 15 per cent of the GDP, if it is interested in improving the quality of our security. Vinod asked the Centre not to harm the interests of the candidates who appeared for army tests in 2020 and 2021.
